


There's Always a Way

by SugaryMystery



Series: MerMay [1]
Category: Mermay - Fandom, exophilia - Fandom, exophilia writing - Fandom
Genre: Exophilia Writing, Gen, MerMay, Other, Themed Months
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23994832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugaryMystery/pseuds/SugaryMystery
Summary: Woking during late-night shifts as usual, but tonight, your old friend has a special request.
Relationships: Jellyfish Mermaid x Non-binary Character
Series: MerMay [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1730284
Kudos: 7





	There's Always a Way

**Author's Note:**

> First short-story for Mermay this 2020! First one ever too! So excited <3

Tonight the facility seems quieter than usual. On other days, I would have to tell my coworkers to lower the music for the shallow water merfolks in the east aisle or ask for the merrows on the west tanks to stop their beautiful but loud singing for the night. However, due to the heavy storm that came out of nowhere, I was the only one who lived close enough to make it in time for the night shift. There were a few others who were here during the shift at five, sadly they'll have to wait until the storm passes.

I don’t mind spending time here; there’s a couple of double beds in the rest-room for this occasions and the small fridge is always full of foods we bring from our home, the other must be playing videogames until they get tired so I have no rush to finish my duties and go to bed. If I want to listen to music or anything like that, I only have to put my headphones on and forget about the world for a while, the guy seeing the cameras will call me if there’s any sort of emergency, and if there’s a fire the alarm would make sure I notice it.

It’s already late and I’m a little tired after feeding the sharks and sea-lions, however, I want to check on someone before I go to sleep. 

Making my way through the empty large tanks in the north section where we keep the larger species I can’t help but yawn, this place is so spacious I can hear my footsteps echoing, and with only the lights on top of the tanks to light the water it can be a little creepy for most people. Also, it’s always cold and I forgot to put my jacket on. But I’ve grown used to it, _perks of the work_ I say to myself.

I walk towards the biggest tank of them all; green seaweed has been planted around the sand base, little fish specimens swimming in their respective shoals from left to right minding their own business, and a few pieces of red coral lay on the sand just for decoration. 

‘’Nulu?’’ I try to call for her. Sometimes she hides from view when she takes a nap, probably because she still doesn’t feel safe around most of the staff. Her favorite spot is inside the giant decorative sand castle we got for her on her first year anniversary with us, she once told me it feels like home to her.

I tap the glass twice just to see if I can call for her attention, but I only manage to scare the little fish away. Maybe she couldn’t hear me? When she didn’t answer after three minutes I started walking around the tank to see the castle better, I caught a glimpse of one of her tentacles that didn’t fit inside the castle so I tapped the glass once more, this time I didn’t stop until she came out.

I cannot get tired of looking at her, she’s truly a wonderful creature to marvel at. Her spotted skin with pink and coral patches, the long pink tentacles coming from her lower half, her silk looking hair full of curls and made from the same pink, and her lower body looking like a puffy dress with tons of ribbons under it. She’s like a jellyfish made from cotton candy and sheer fabric, as funny as that sounds.

‘’Nulu?’’ I call her name and she jumps even though she already knows I’m here. She frowns, not in anger, but deep worry. Her brows are knitted together and her dark eyes seem glassier and wider. I’ve seen her made this expression before; _she’s scared._

I put my hand on top of the glass trying to get as closer to her as possible. She leans forward but her tentacles don’t let go of the castle’s structure, ready to jump right in for safety if she feels threatened by anything.

‘’Are you feeling ill? You didn’t eat your lunch today, you know that’s no good for your recovery’’ I try to ask in a higher tone without waking up the others but it’s a little difficult to hear behind the thick glass. She shakes her head and looks down, her frown deepening as she closes her eyes for a moment. ‘’Why are you so scared? I’m not that ugly, am I?’’ I try to joke but she doesn’t laugh, she just inches closer to my face. Finally, she whispers something but I couldn't make out the words. ‘’Sorry, I can’t hear you’’

She looks up. ‘’The sky’’ was all that escaped her plump lips. I look up too, seeing the sky through the large window on the roof. There are heavy clouds that are still visible thanks to a few claps of thunder raging inside of them, painting them I indifferent tones of purple and pink contrasting with the dark night sky. ‘’It’s angry’’ she says.

‘’Are you scared of storms? I know they can be loud but there’s no way they can hurt you inside the building. You’re safe here with me’’ I try to reassure her but she keeps shaking her head.

‘’It reminds me of that day. When you and the others came for me’’ she says, the tentacles in her head mixed with her hair touch the glass, almost as if they wanted to wrap around me in an effort to find some comfort.

Nulu came to the facility for over two years now. In fact, I was one of the divers who aid in her rescue. She was found trapped with an old fishing net that kept her tied to an old anchor, she was clearly weak after not have eaten for a couple of days and the nets left deep wounds on her soft body. It was complicated since we didn’t know if her species was venomous or not, we knew Octopoda merfolks existed but never before encounter ones and the data was still new, so the probability of her tentacles containing venom was higher due to our ignorance. We couldn’t risk it, but we refused to leave her there any longer!

After hours of complicated procedures and trying to calm her down assuring her we were going to help her, we brought her to the facility and started her rehabilitation. She was too weak to eat on her own, much less to hunt even in a controlled area, we had to feed her manually using special suits and various artifacts. She wasn’t even interested in playing and spent her first two days just lying on the ground. My boss suggested that I got closer to her, most merfolks were highly socials and rarely left their shoals so being on their own had a great impact on their psychological health, we were worried she wouldn't eat and refused to exercise her limbs. 

The first day I mainly spoke alone, from time to time she would look at me from the same position but had no interest in engaging in conversation. The second day I tried to play with her with different toys, she would grab some with her tentacles only to never let go of them again, still lying in the sand on her belly. The third day I started feeding her, she stood up slowly and spoke to me for the first time, a polite ''thank you'' was all she gave me but it made me happier than I expected. Since then, we've never been apart for too long.

Sooner than later we engaged in daily talks. I found an understanding in her that I wasn't able to find between my own kin, and to her, I became a good friend who she could tell most of her things, even if it was just to complain about the freshness of her lunch or how funny looking other merfolks were. After a couple of weeks, I choose to change the color of my hair, I had planned to do it for a long time and my boss told me it wouldn't be an issue since I didn't work with the public, and Nulu was overjoyed when she saw my pink hair. ''You look the same as me!'' she marveled. I believe that's when we started to become even closer.

She's always so cheerful and funny, so seeing her so scared breaks my heart. And I can only do so little to help her. After a couple of minutes, she spoke again but her voice was still a little shaky.

‘’They also remind me of some merfolks who lived near my old home. Really mean mers with long tails and black skin who would often tease us because we looked soft. I never like them, I was always minding my own businesses and looking around but they always appeared to tease me...’’

‘’You mean like, eel merfolks?’’ I asked and she nodded. 

‘’I was running away from them when it happened... I went to far away from my shoal when we were moving somewhere safer, there was not enough food there and the temperature was getting higher, so we had to leave but… but they forgot about me'' she started shivering, her tentacles curling around her as if trying to protect her, or maybe in an effort to comfort herself by doing so. ''They had to leave me in order to move way…’’

I couldn’t hug her.

I wanted to but- I just couldn’t!

Damn the precautions and assumptions, if I die from Octopoda venom then I’ll die happy if I get to hug Nulu now. But I can’t. I want to keep seeing her and being her friend, support her and be with her, and even when she can finally leave this place I want to smile and assure her everything is going to be okay from now on. Until then, I’ll do everything I can do to help her.

‘’Nulu. Look at me’’ she focuses her eyes on me and I can see myself reflected on those dark orbs. So round and big, big enough to hold tiny galaxies in them. ‘’You know you’re important to me right?’’ She nodded, smiling slightly. ‘’And you know that I’ll do anything to make you feel better right?’’ She nodded again. ‘’Sadly, I can’t make the weather change, neither I can make the entire building soundproof, but if there’s something you want or need from me, I’m here for you. Always be and always have’’

Her expression changed from scared to doubtful, almost as she thought that my help wouldn’t be helpful at all. But her expression changed, to one much more lost in thought as if thinking about what she could ask from me. I was expecting something like ‘’fresh salmon from the market!’’, or maybe ‘’more green seaweed for my enclosure!’’, or maybe ‘’a new red ball to play with!’’. Whatever it was I wasn't worried about getting it, I guess that's what friends do for one another. Finally, she turned to look at me again, her nose pressed against the glass and her eyes more serious than ever.

‘’Kiss me’’ she said in an almost demanding tone.

I blinked, surprised by the request and feeling my own cheeks blushing. My eyes went to her soft-looking lips, imagining how it would be to press mine against hers. Would she taste like seaweed or maybe to the fish we feed her, or maybe she tastes like cotton candy? Questions that were actually distracting me instead of clearing my doubts. Unconsciously, I couldn’t help but giggle nervously.

‘’You know that we cannot touch each other. Right?’’

Her eyes never changed, they were looking at me with such a determination, and I felt hypnotized by them. My body moved on its own, tentatively I put my hands on top of her hands on the glass, getting close enough and finally pressing my lips to the glass where hers were. I couldn’t feel much besides the rumbling of her moans through the thick wall that separated us. It felt so intimate. So pure and so powerful. We both wished the glass would vanish and we could embrace one another, making the horrible sound of thunders outside disappear in thin air.

Eventually, I had to pull away, not used to the cold temperature of the glass, my cheeks blossoming a darker shade reaching to my ears, I felt embarrassed, but Nulu smiled in satisfaction.

‘’Was it okay?’’ I couldn’t help but ask.

Her smile became wider, her eyes glimmering more. She was no longer shivering and she was touching her lips softly. ‘’No, it was perfect’’ she whispered in her usual cheerful voice.


End file.
